We had a bad day today. The new neighbor lady – who took control of the house after the death of our long-time neighbor and friend, her mother-in-law – killed one of the most beautiful mature Wild (Black) Cherry trees I’ve ever seen.
It soared about 80 feet high and the four symmetrical main branches of the trunk spread out perfectly forming a beautiful crown. It swayed in the wind gracefully. We loved having it watch over our home. I’m glad I got to spend last autumn with it. It was just leafing out this week and would have had lovely white blossoms mid-May.
My person says that every year a pair of Baltimore Orioles built a nest near its crown, hanging from the very end of one of the thinnest longest branches. Using plant leaves, orioles take up to 15 days to build a soft bulbous nest that hangs, delicate but sturdy, from the branch. They line it with feathers. Baltimore Oriole populations, and other songbirds, have been declining in recent years. It was originally thought this was because of habitat loss in their Central and South American wintering grounds. Now many experts think one of the primary reasons is loss of nesting habitats – trees for some, grasslands for others – here in North America.
I guess that’s one less tree for breeding birds.
This tree was our friend. It had stood for over 50 years, growing slowly, watching the world change around it. It had another 50 years in it at least – some live well over 200 years. The new neighbor lady didn’t like the tree because people tracked the small, late-summer fruits that fell on the edge of her yard and driveway into her house (a house no one lives in now).
Prunus serotina – Black or Wild Cherry – is a native to the eastern US. It was also one of the first trees imported from the New World to England, where trees were present in English gardens as early as 1629.
In most Algonquin Indian cultures, and for us, this tree was also one of our ancestors. A direct tie to our history, to the earth we live on, and to our relationship with the world. It rooted us, helped us to look around and outside of ourselves – up and skyward, to see the beauty around us.
That’s one less tree to lift our souls. A connection has been thoughtlessly cut away. As have some of the ties that bind us to the natural world that holds us.
It is difficult to look at the sky right now because our friend is not there.
